Adjustable tractor hitch



June 16, 1925.

S. W. RAYMOND ADJUSTABLE TRACTOR HITCH Filed Ray 18, 1922 Patented June 16, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL W. RAYMOND, OF ADRIAN, MICHIGAN;

. ADJUSTABLE TRACTOR HITCH.

' Application filed May 18, 1922. Serial a... 561,833.

To all whom cit may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL WV. RAYMOND, a citizen of the United States, and a resi dent of Adrian, in the county of Lenawee.

:and State of Michigan, have made an In vent ion Appertaining toan Adjustable Tractor Hitch; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact .de-

, scription of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and 'use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a specification. V

My invention has vide a tractor hitch that may be readily adjusted to tongues or draw bars of different heights and may be used with advantage in connectionwith tractors for universal draft purposes, whereby implements, such as farm ii'nplements, of all kinds may be readily connected with the tractor. It is of particular advantage in connection with plows when drawn by tractors, whereby the plows may, by manipulation of the hitch blocks, be

i readily guided or controlled in their opera tions in turning the soil and so as to regu late the depth of the plow point. The in vention also has for its object toprovide a a means in a tractor hitch block whereby the line ofthe cut produced by the plow may be readily adjusted relative to the tractor wheels so as to place one of the, wheels that it will follow a line or path disposed sufii ciently remote from a preceding cut of the plow in order that it may have a "solid traction or footing for the said tractor wheel, and also whereby the distances be tween the cuts of. the plow may be adjusted as desired, that, is, according to the charac-. ter of the soil that is to be turned bythe plow. The invention also has for its object to. provide in an adjustable hitch block a r means wherebyithe plow or the implement,

such as a wagon or other trailing device, may beturned, that s, whereby the tractor may take an angular position with reference to the trailing device. The invention consists in'otherfeatures and has for its object other advantages that will appear from the following description and upon examination of the drawings.

The invention may be contained in structures of'difierentforms. To illustrate a part of this i for its object to prosubstantially perpendicular. .may be secured to the bar 2 by :the pin 5.

and the draft is through the bar.

. practical application of the invention I have selected a structure containing the inven- The Figure 10f the drawings illustrates a side view ofrthe hitch block. Fig. 2 illustrates a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 indicated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 illustrates a sectional view taken on the line 33 indicated in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 illustrates a sectional View taken on the line H indicated in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 illustrates the position of parts of the device when the tractor. is turning.

1, Figure 1, indicates the rear end of the tractor frameor housing, which may be of any suitable form, and to which the hitch block is connected. A cylindrical bar 2 is secured to the houslng l by means of a pin 3 and by means of a collar 4 and a tension member or brace 81 which is also connected to the housing or other suitable part of the tractor. The tension member 31 may be made adjustable so as to maintain the cylindrical bar 2 in a suitable position, such as The collar l The hitch block is movable along the bar 2 When, therefore, thebaris worn on one side or at one end, thebar 2 may be turned around or end-for-end. by withdrawing and reinserting the pins 3 and 5.

The hitch block 6 is connected to a bell crank lever 7 which is bifurcated, that is, it is provided with two arms 8 located on opposite sides of the hitch block 6. The lever 7 is also provided with the arm 9 to which a link 10 is connected for manipulating the bell-cranlclever 7 to raise and lower the hitch block 6. The linklO may be connected to any suitable device for swinging the bell-cranklever, such as, to a lever or other mechanism, whereby the hitch block may be easily lifted or lowered.

The bell crank lever may be fulcrumed or jpivotally supported on a broad dependent from one of the ears 12 to connect with the link 10.

Thelink 11 is provided with rearwardly ext-ending lugs or bosses 13 whichare-located between the ears :l2'and are *so disposed as to form lateral bearing surfaces with the ears 12 of the lever I7. :Tl16 ll1lk and the lever are connected together by means of the pin lat-that-eXtendsth-rough the ears andthe lugs. This forms a pivotal and lateral rigid connection between thelink andthelever and readily'permits vertical .movements of thehitch block'6 by the angularmovements ot-thelever 7, ample room for swinging movements o tthe block 3 "being;provided byreason of the position ot-the arms 8 of the lever relative to the block.

The .block '6 is provided :with a 'trans versely extendingslot l5 locatedin a rearwardly extending V shaped projection 16. A pin 17 extends througlrtheends of the arms 8 of the lever 7 andthus connects-the lever with the hitch block 6. The end corners of the slot :are cut away, as shown in Figs. vt-gand 5,-to permit-the block'fi'to take extreme angular positions on the cylindrical'bar 2 notwit-hstanding the elevation otthe pin 171andthe slot15. The slot 15 has a. vertical width substantially the same as-the diameter-ofthe,pin, 17; The pin 17, when movedby the-lever 7, operates to raise and lower the hitch block 6 'withoutinterfering with the angular-n1ovements-of theiiblockt when the tractor is turning and drawing-thetrailing device.

Aneye 18 maybe bolted to the hitch. block 'for connecting-to any desired agricultural implement or other trailing-device.

For-hitching a plow to the trailing device,

the :block'6 is provided with downwardly extending lugs 19. A clevis 20:is provided with two outside ears or lugs2l and acentral 1ug'22. The c'levis and the-hitch block are connected together by means of v the pin '23 that extends throughthedugsand ears of the clevis and the-hitch. The plo-wbeam 2% is secured .to' the clevis 20 by means of theplate -and the bolts 26 and 2Tand the wooden pin2S. Thebolts26 and 27 operate-to clamp the end otthe plow beam be tweenthe plate'25 and an extension or shank 29 'ot' the clevis. The downwardly extending lugs 1'9'permit pivot-a1 movements of the plow beam relative to the hitch'block t3 about the'pin 23 and lateraladjustments of'the plow are obtained'by the relative location otthe ears of the clevis'and the'lugs of the hitch block, and consequently desired widths of land turned may be obtained, or desiredadjustments as between the line of cut of the-plow and the pathof one of-the bullwheels otthe tractor maybe- -made. One of the ears 21 may be located against the inside surface of one of the lugs tween Jthe :two.

19 which will bring the central ear 22 in contact with the inside surface of the other lug 19. This will give'two adjustments and yetthe lugs and ears of the hitch block and 'the clevis are -ma1nt a1ned in contact with each other so as to give lateral rigidity be- These adjustments may be further extended to two additional adjustments bylocatin-gthe plow beam 2 lon one or the other side of the shank 29 of the clevis, which will givet'our adjustments of the plow "beam relative to "the hitch block andproduce the desired resultsin the'operation of the plow.

To ';prevent binding between the hitch .blocle6 and'the'rod 2 by-reason of the draft produced -in. hauling the trailing device,

'rollers'3O 'maybe pivotally secured inthe block 6 so astobearagainst the surface of This permits tree to the'tractor, a hitch block slid-ably located on the'niember androtat-able relative there- 'to, abi'furcated leverhaving arms located on opposite sides-oi the hitch block and connected to the hitch block, a link connected to the tractor and the lever at its fulcrum for I supporting the lever.

3. In-a tractor hitch,-a verticalmember connected to the 'tractor, a I hitch block slidably located on the member and rotatable relative thereto, a bifurcated lever having arms'loeatedonopposite sides of the-hitch block and connected to the hitch block, a

link connected to the tractor and thelever 'i'or' supporting the -lever,- and rollers located on the hitch-block and bearingagainst the member to prevent binding between the 3 hitch block and th member.

4. In a=tractor hitch a-vertical member connected t0the tlFflQtOlythllltCll block slidablealong and rotatively connected to the member, a bifurcated bell c-ranklevercom nected to the hitch block and having arms located onopposite sides ofthe'hitch block,

a link having a.widthsubstantially the same as the greater width of t-he lever and connected to the lever and the tractor for supportingthe-lever and giving lateral rigidity to the leveiythe'hitch block rotatable within the arms of the lever.

5. In a tractor hitch, a vertical member connected to the-tractoiya hitch block slidable along and rotatively connected to the member, a bifurcated bell crank lever, the block and lever having a pin and slot for connecting the block and lever together, a

link having a width substantially the same as the greater width of the lever and connected to the lever and the tractor for sup- SAMUEL W; RAYMOND; 

